The central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will meet in Peshawar tomorrow to sight the Ramadan moon, as the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) says there are chances of the crescent being spotted in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), including Peshawar.
The PMD has forecast clear skies in the plains of KP, including Peshawar. For the province’s upper areas, it said the sky is likely to remain partly cloudy tomorrow.
The department said that after tomorrow evening, the moon’s age will be more than 19 hours, and that it will remain on the horizon for around 35 minutes. It added that there are also chances of the moon being sighted in some areas of Balochistan and Sindh.
In an earlier advisory issued to the Research and Reference Wing of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the PMD said the new moon of Ramadan 1447 AH will be born on February 17 at 5:01pm (PST), and that astronomical parameters indicate a fair chance of sighting on the evening of February 18 (29th Shaban 1447 AH).
The department’s Climate Data Processing Centre said climate records suggest the weather is expected to be partly cloudy or fair in most parts of the country on the evening of February 18.
The department also shared region-wise timings for the last time of moon sighting (PST) on February 18, saying it will remain visible until 7:24pm in Sindh, 7:08pm in Punjab, 7:47pm in Balochistan, 7:13pm in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 6:58pm in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and 6:53pm in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
It added that stations not listed in the moon-coordinate schedule may also observe the moon up to the time of moonset according to their respective region.
As per tradition, the central committee would hold its session on Shaban 29, with zonal committees meeting in their respective domains to receive and assess moon sighting reports and announce the sighting of the moon. That clerics from all schools of thought would attend the central meeting to ascertain the beginning of the ninth Islamic month.
Separately, Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) has forecast that the crescent for Ramadan 1447 Hijri is likely to be visible on February 18, making February 19 the expected first day of fasting. Al Jazeera has reported that fasting in Pakistan will be around 12 to 13 hours, increasing from the first to the last fast as days become longer.
In a separate update, PMD Deputy Director Anjum Nazir Zaighum said overall weather in the country is likely to be pleasant during Ramadan, adding that it will start getting warmer in most parts of the country from the second week of March.
